Some More Pros and Cons

Another quick Pros and Cons list, concerning Barcelona:

Pro: Frit Ravich chips are the tastiest chips in the entire world, and are by far my favorite snack here. It also helps they are only a Euro a bag.

Con: America, this is embarrassing! How does Spain have the tastiest chips in the world? Are we not supposed to the be the capital of the world when it comes to unhealthy, processed foods? What are we doing? And most importantly, how am I ever going to eat another chip again in America after having a semester of eating these far superior chips?

Pro: I’m getting a little more creative with my snacking because Europeans find peanut butter to be gross. A lot of my snacking is actually getting healthier, though not all of it (i.e. see above post).

Con: I MISS PEANUT BUTTER!! Europeans what is wrong with you!? Peanut butter is the staple food of my diet. How I’ve gone already gone more than 3 weeks without peanut butter is already a miracle. I’m going through some serious withdrawal. During my last finals week, because I was severely crammed for time and I needed something to fill me up quickly, I would literally just spoon myself straight peanut butter (nutella may have been added in with those spoonfuls as well; though I can’t be entirely sure, it was late). Point is, I need some peanut butter back in my life. Donations of peanut butter are gladly welcomed (only mildly kidding).

Pro: Planning out trips is an exciting/interesting process.

Con: Planning these trips get complicated and annoying when you have to remind yourself that you have school. Go away school, no one wants you here!

Soon to Come…

I actually have a lot to talk about soon. But a lot of things are evolving right now in terms of housing and planning of travel at the moment. So if anyone is reading this, what you get to look forward to, to soon hearing about…

1) I am still living in the apartment that I originally moved into, but that is changing. It’s a long story, that no one really cares about hearing. But I will let you know where and with whom I will be with living probably within the week.

2) My travel plans. I know that I will be going to Paris in a couple weeks, but everything else is up in the air at the moment. This week I will be finalizing essentially all of my travel plans for the remainder of time here.

3) More thoughts on life in Barcelona.

4) More thoughts on food here, and what I come up with to keep myself full without breaking the bank. Two nights ago I was starving after watching the Barca and Real Madrid game, and the only restaurant open was this Chinese restaurant around my apartment. At the Chinese restaurant I had french fries and chicken fried rice and combined the two. I swear I wasn’t drunk.

Reunited with my “Running World”

Running has been so so here. I was pretty sick for a week, and that affected my running pretty badly, because I was using the little energy I did have to trek over to class. Also the apartment I am currently living in, isn’t really in the best area to run at night (not because of the safety of the neighborhood, but mostly because its more residential and is not as open and well light at night as compared to other parts of Barca at night).

But my luck is turning around in regards to running. I found this running club through this running store called Runners World. Every Wednesday and Saturday they get together, and do workouts on the track or on the boardwalk along the beach. This past Wednesday, was the first one I went to.

One of the things I love about being  abroad, is witnessing universal human behavior that transcends differing borders and cultures. There are about 60 runners that show up every Wednesday and Saturday for this running club. It was so bizarre, because as we were getting ready to go warm up, and while we were doing our 3 mile warm up I felt like I could of been just as easily been running back with runners in America. The runners here are just as joyful about running and enjoy everyone’s company just as much as many friendly runners back in the States do. And the nice thing for me, was that these runners of Barcelona were just as friendly to me as any other running club in America would be to me (perhaps more, because they were willing to speak English!).

But I now know that I have a group of people to run with every Wednesday and Saturday, which is a huge relief. I’m even hopeful that I find someone in this group who will be willing to run with me most days of the week. I’m not really a fan of running alone. I need to converse with someone while I’m running!

Pros and Cons: Barcelona

Jimmy Fallon has influenced me a little too much. This is lazy writing, but whatever. I’ve been here 10 days now, here is my initial pros and cons list.

Pro: Albany got like half a foot of snow today. It was 61 degrees and sunny here.

Con: I still haven’t quite adjusted to 6 hour time shift. So except for a couple days I haven’t woken up in the morning, meaning I miss out on much of the nice weather.

 

Pro: The people here in Barcelona are really friendly, and most want to help you out.

Con: The people in Barcelona sometimes are a little too friendly in public. AKA a lot of PDA.

 

Pro: It’s actually nice not to be so dependent on my cell phone anymore.

Con: It hurts my brain to think of how people survived without cell phones completely. I like that I don’t use my cell phone often, but I don’t like it enough that I would be happy not to have one.

 

Pro: Barcelona is beautiful and warm (warm-ish right now, the locals are actually freezing at the moment).

Con: It is so beautiful, that even in January Barcelona is swarmed with tourists on weekends. That’s right, I’ve been here only 10 days, but I’m already giving myself the right to complain about tourists.

 

Pro: Barcelona’s subway system was really easy to figure out.

Con: I’m severely directionally challenged. So even though I can always get off at the right subway stop, actually finding the landmark or building I’m trying to find is challenging for me.

 

Pro: The 2-4 pm siesta is a great idea, and I’m a fan of it.

Con: Except when I’m not. Like when I wake up at 2 pm, and look for breakfast and find that everything is closed…

 

Pro: I’ve enjoyed the food here. Especially all the seafood I’ve eaten.

Con: I DO NOT LIKE THE TOMATO SAUCE HERE. SOMEHOW THEY SCREWED UP TOMATO SAUCE! Italy is about 700 miles away, borrow some of theirs. Seriously!

 

Pro: I’m getting the best hill running training I’ve ever gotten, since my apartment is halfway up a mountain.

Con: Every run I have to run up a mountain…

Hola from Barcelona!

Hola America! It’s my 5th day here in Barcelona, and the more time I spend here the more I love it.

I feel like I have a lot to talk about so, I think I’ll keep this post separated by topic.

 

The Flight Over:

So I arrived here Wednesday, after a fairly long, but enjoyable flying experience. During my travels, I had one stop into London Heathrow (which is the most massive and busiest airport I have ever been involved with), and then flew in from there to Barcelona. I can now say I am a loyal fan of British Airways. During my flight from NY to London we had a tv on the back part of the seat in front of us. There was about 40-50 movies to choose from and about 20 different tv shows we could watch. One of the movies I watched was No Country for Old Men. I had never seen that movie before, but WOW. I really do not have a single complaint about the movie; great acting, fantastic dialogue, and really awesome ending.

I also had my first legal drink ( some cheap red wine) of my life on the plane. Kind of a funny place to have your first legal drink, but whatever, I enjoyed it regardless.

I couldn’t tell you a single thing about the flight over from London to Barcelona, except that I sat next to a British couple around their 60’s. Besides that I was asleep from the second we took off to the moment we landed.

My Apartment:

I’m in a five person apartment with myself,  Alex (U. Wisconsin), Tanner ( Marist), Jenny (U. Wisconsin), and Maggie (Boston U). It’s a long story, and if it does come to fruition I’ll explain it, but this may not be our apartment for much longer. But if it does remain our apartment, I have very little to complain about. In the apartment we have a large kitchen, two bathrooms, a nice living room, and a beautiful balcony directly above a tennis club that overlooks much of the city.  We live in a residential part of Barcelona, and are about 2.5 miles away from the water. I kind of always laugh when the local Barcelonians describe to me the area I live in, because for some reason they always like to use the word “posh” to describe it. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard that word used in any conversation I’ve had back in the states (except for maybe when referring to our very own billy posch (theres some pun humor for you coach pete) at Marist…)

The City:

Barcelona is just an awesome city. Everything about it is beautiful. The location, its architecture, and its people. It seems like many locals are very content with life here, and tend to be very friendly towards me, even though my ability to speak Spanish at the moment is abysmal.  Much of the city is in good shape, and its architecture is amazing. I will say though that I am still figuring my way around much of the city. Since its an older European city, and because I am mostly used to the easiness of the grid in NYC, getting around Barcelona has proven to be a little bit tricky at times. But I think with another week here, I will begin to become more  comfortable getting around the main parts of the city. Expect to start seeing some Barcelona pictures pop up soon on the blog and facebook.

What I’ve Been Up To So Far:

A lot of socializing, sleeping, orientation stuff, and navigating through the city. One of the great things about studying abroad is that everyone, for the most part, is in the same boat in the sense that we all are lost in this new city and we are all just trying to meet as many new people as possible. So its nice, because for the most part, people just drop their guard while studying abroad and are more open to different people and experiences (which is the reason, in my opinion, why studying abroad is so successful).

Probably the highlight so far of my time here was last night with one of my best friends from home, Michele and her Irish friends. Michele is studying abroad for a year in Dublin at Trinity College and during the time there she is rowing with the crew team there. Since they are still on winter break, they used the week to train in Spain right outside Barcelona. Last night though, they spent the night in Barcelona, and I was able to hang out with Michele and her crew friends, which turned out to be a lot of fun.

Running:

Running so far has been dicey. I’ve had good days and bad days here. I still haven’t found a route that I love, but I know I will. Today was probably the best run I’ve had (even though I got lost for a bit), because I had a decent stretch of flat running. The main problem with running here is that I either have to run about a mile up a mountain (that’s not an exaggeration) to find a flat stretch of running or running about 2.5 miles down a mountain to find good flat running (the BIG problem with this route is the 2.5 miles I have to finish on). I think once I start to figure out the city more, or find a running partner, my running will improve. Though with all of this, and with the fact that running in the middle of a big city isn’t easy, I cannot complain. The weather for running here is AMAZING. Its been about 60 degrees, sunny, and dry everyday that I’ve been here. PERFECT running weather.

Weather Here:

Speaking of weather… I woke up today and saw on my computer that it was 0 degrees with a -12 degree windchill in Albany this morning. BAHAHAHA.

 

Classes start tomorrow, which I’m excited for. I don’t mind being left to my own devices for a bit, but after awhile I kind of like some structure in my daily schedule. Also I will start blogging more and posting more pictures. Promise.

For now though, hasta luego personas.

 

 

 

 

The View From My Balcony

Boots of Spanish Leather

For those who know me well, I love Bob Dylan. He is the man (well at least he was when he was young). So although this song doesn’t really have that much to do with Barcelona itself, for the past 9 months this song has reminded me about what I’m about to embark on and has always made me think of what I’m leaving behind. I am going to miss everyone back in the US, and some of the luxuries we enjoy in America, but I’m excited for this next step in my life and am sure it will be worth it.

Also sorry for this version of “spanish leather”, youtube didn’t have the original. But even so, this song remains awesome.